Washington Post Reporter Jason Rezaian Sentenced to Jail in Iran

Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian has been sentenced to prison in Iran after a closed-door trial found him guilty of espionage on October 11. He was arrested in July 2014.

The length of the prison term was not specified. "Serving a jail term is in Jason Rezaian's sentence but I cannot give details," judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei told a weekly news conference in Tehran, according to IRNA.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters he was aware of the IRNA report but could not independently confirm it. It was not clear why Iran has not given details of the ruling against the 39-year-old Rezaian, who Iranian prosecutors accused of espionage.

The foreign editor of the Washington Post, Douglas Jehl, said the newspaper was aware of the reports but had no additional information.

Iran's lack of transparency in this case is astounding. Rezaian has still not been informed about basic things in his own case--which, by all accounts, is "absurd" or "bogus." He's a reporter, not a spy, and he's being deprived of a basic human right to a fair trial. It's unacceptable to treat somebody this way. Iran should not use a human being as a pawn or bargaining chip.